Colour Blind

[Llanigraham]

Colour lights could have shapes as well as colours to make them even easier to see

Have you ever tried to judge the shape of a light from 800 metres away, in the middle of the night, when it's pouring with rain, and you are doing 70 mph?

 

[Applepie356]

Unfortunately being colour blind will exclude you from some roles in the railway.

Do they accept using colour blind glasses? Surely if some Drivers are required to wear spectacles to meet vision standards then using colour blind glasses is no different? Who knows, unfortunately I’m not an optometrist

 

[Stigy]

Unfortunately being colour blind will exclude you from some roles in the railway.

Do they accept using colour blind glasses? Surely if some Drivers are required to wear spectacles to meet vision standards then using colour blind glasses is no different? Who knows, unfortunately I’m not an optometrist

No, colour blind glasses aren’t allowed unfortunately. I’m no expert, but colour vision is a bit more complicated than distance vision. I wear glasses, and my vision is fine with glasses, and unless something very drastic changes, it won’t deteriorate particularly quickly. With colour vision, there are different types and levels of it, which could affect how colour lights etc are viewed at different times, regardless of correction.

 

[GB]

For the record, brake pipe (red) and main res (yellow) do have different fittings... so you cannot join them together.

Edit: oops, missed post #28

 

[hiredgun]

This is in the realms of fantasy.

Or just employ permanent second men to accompany them to call out the signal aspects. Of course they’ll need to be put through the full drivers’ course too.

That’s just stupid...... surely they’d just use a Labrador on the second-hounds side??

 

[whoosh]

Well.... I have to declare some impatience whenever this subject is raised, I'm rather ashamed to say. I've always been of the attitude that the standards are the Ishihara test and if you can't pass it then hard luck.

But.
There is some hope from London Underground. You would likely need to work as Station Staff first, but some lines now use in-cab signalling with a speed target, instead of traditional red and green lineside signals.
This article states the trains drive themselves, but there are periods where manual driving is necessary or (with the exception of the Victoria Line) optional.

The article about colourblind drivers working on the Jubilee Line, which is worked entirely with in-cab signalling: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.st...-light-to-drive-tube-trains-a4105931.html?amp

 

[ComUtoR]

When the signals are removed, automated trains are prevalent, and colour is not a factor.. I have no doubt the ishihara test would be removed. The standard exists because it has to. The tests have evolved a lot since I took them and I have no doubt again that they will continue to do so.

 

[Gloster]

When the signals are removed, automated trains are prevalent, and colour is not a factor.. I have no doubt the ishihara test would be removed. The standard exists because it has to. The tests have evolved a lot since I took them and I have no doubt again that they will continue to do so.

And in emergency, what sort of flag/hand lamps are you going to use?

I think that there was a similar discussion on this forum several years ago (before I joined) and it was pointed out that this was an example of rational discrimination. (EDIT: in the acceptable sense of the phrase; it also has several unacceptable uses.)

 

[joshuan542]

Red, green and brown....

Thinking of applying for a shunter/train preparer role.

Will being CB rule me out?

Thanks.

I just got the Shunter/Train preparer role for LTH and bognor, my medical is passed and part of the requirement was to pass the colour blindness test

My avatar is a slide taken from the Ishihara test for colour blindness. I'm guessing there is a number in it somewhere!...the job spec talks about responsibility for cleaning the trains...not sure how colour blindness should effect that...maybe its the shunting bit you can't do if you have problems with red/green/brown etc....IE you get asked to shunt the red train and shunt the green one instead? = chaos.

Oddly I was advised that in the shunter/train prep role cleaning duties are actually almost non existent, as there are a train presentation team in the depots anyway, the most cleaning you would essentially do is the CET tanks

 

[185]

I am aware of one court case at one former train company who employed contract cleaners via an agency (which it sort of owned). To cut costs, the operator brought all the staff in-house apart from one employee. The male employee's claim relied mainly on sex discrimination in that had he been female, he would have been unlikely to fail the colour test.

The judge ruled against, but personally I think the judge was harsh in dismissing this totally. Moreover, the applicant should have claimed solely under the disability section of the Equality Act 2010, not gender discrimination. In fairness to the applicant, they had asked for mediation, with a view to finding an alternative non-sc post which the train company refused - that in itself should have put the judge's mind to rest.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/596f66aaed915d0baa0001e8/Mr_S_Ball_v_Arriva_Rail_North_Ltd_and_Northern_Recruitment_Group_Ltd_1801955.2016_and_2501135.2016_-_Final.pdf

> Paragraph 9 - Color Blindness

It's primarily an insurance issue for the operators, but sometimes the way HR people go about things is awful and deserving of a court case.

 

[True_rec1306]

I just got the Shunter/Train preparer role for LTH and bognor, my medical is passed and part of the requirement was to pass the colour blindness test


Oddly I was advised that in the shunter/train prep role cleaning duties are actually almost non existent, as there are a train presentation team in the depots anyway, the most cleaning you would essentially do is the CET tanks

Hey josh,

I have also applied and through to the interview stage of the same position. Can I ask when you had your interview? And was that your final stage before medical? Ive been told mine is a while away